The record was "Simmer Down," and over the next few
years the Wailing Wailers -- Bob, Peter Mclntosh and Bunny Livingston,
the nucleus of the group -- put out some 30 sides that properly established them as one of the hottest groups in Jamaica. Mclntosh later shortened his surname to Tosh while Livingston is now called Bunny Wailer. Despite their popularity, the economics of keeping the group together proved too much and the two other members, Junior Braithwaite and Beverley Kelso, left the group. At the same time Bob joined his mother in the United States. This marked the end of the Wailing Wailers, Chapter One. Bob''s first recording attempts came at the beginning of the Sixties. His first two tunes, cut as a solo artist, meant nothing in commercial terms and it wasn''t until 1964, as a founding member of a group called the Wailing Wailers, that Bob first hit the Jamaican charts.Bob Marley''s career stretched back over twenty
years. During that time Marley''s growing style encompassed every aspect in the rise of Jamaican
music, from ska to contemporary reggae. That growth was well reflected in the maturity of the Wailers'' music. the nucleus of the group -- put out some 30 sides that properly established them as one of the hottest groups in Jamaica. Mclntosh later shortened his surname to Tosh while Livingston is now called Bunny Wailer. Despite their popularity, the economics of keeping the group together proved too much and the two other members, Junior Braithwaite and Beverley Kelso, left the group. At the same time Bob joined his mother in the United States. This marked the end of the Wailing Wailers, Chapter One. It''s difficult to properly understand Bob Marley''s music without considering Rastafari. His spiritual beliefs are too well known to necessitate further explanation. It must be stated, however, that Rastafari is at the very core of the Wailers'' music. In 1970 Aston Familyman Barrett and his brother Carlton (bass and drums, respectively) joined the Wailers. They came to the band unchallenged as Jamaica''s
HARDEST rhythm section; a reputation that was to remain undiminished during the following decade. Meanwhile, the band''s own reputation was, at the start of the Seventies, an extraordinary one throughout the Caribbean. However, the band was still unknown internationally. At the end of the European tour, Bob Marley & The Wailers went to America. Bob played two shows at Madison Square Garden but, immediately afterwards he was seriously ill. Cancer was diagnosed. Marley fought the disease for eight months. The battle, however, proved to be too much. He died in a Miami Hospital on May 11,1981. A month before the end Bob was awarded Jamaica''s Order of Merit, the nations'' third highest honor, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the country''s culture. On Thursday, May 23,1981, the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley was given an official funeral by the people of Jamaica. Following the funeral -- attended by both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition -- Bob''s body was taken to his birthplace where it now rests in a mausoleum. Bob Marley was 36 years old. His legend lives on.